"We've seen the slowest recovery from a recession in history," Romney told a rain-soaked crowd of 500 supporters here on Monday. "As a matter of fact, I just read that if you look back 60 years, and you look at all the months we had with unemployment about 8 percent before President Obama, there were 39 months in all 60 years with unemployment above 8 percent."

"With this president, there have been 43 months under one president alone," Romney continued. "He does not understand what it takes to create a real recovery. I do."

The remarks came as Romney rushed through his second public appearance of the day, a rally at a park in Newport News, that the campaign chose to begin early and cut short due to a downpour that showed no sign of abating.

Romney gushed over the crowd, who cheered him as he hit on his economic talking points, as well as two of the three more personal anecdotes he began telling this weekend.

“People wonder why it is I’m so confident we’re going to win," Romney said. "I’m confident because I see you here on a day like this. This is unbelievable! Thank you so much! "